Beating the e-Pedigree deadline

The January 2009 e-Pedigree deadline set by California may have been pushed back two years, but that didn't stop Biogen Idec from forging ahead with a solution. The March 25 decision by the California Board of Pharmacy to push back the state's e-Pedigree deadline to January 1, 2011 (its second two-year delay) gives the overwhelming majority of the pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. new breathing room to meet the anti-counterfeiting measures laid out by the Golden State. But those same foot-draggers are now are at risk for being awarded the Black Hat worn by bad guys. That allows the small handful of companies who have solved the packaging serialization puzzle to claim the competitive and public relations benefits that come to those who wear the White Hats.